In the news … Friday, November 30, 2018

The flight attendant had to ask her twice, “Anything to drink, ma’am?”

“Oh, sorry. Water, no ice, please,” said Noelle Freeman, the CFO of Franklin Climate Systems. Watching the clouds out her window at 30,000 feet, she’d been deep in thought. She was on her way home from two days in Arkansas visiting her company’s largest facility. Franklin was in the business of designing, engineering, and manufacturing climate control systems for cars and SUVs. It was a division of FB Holdings, a manufacturing company based in Aurora, Illinois, and it had the unfortunate distinction of being the group’s poorest performing unit for nearly a decade.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is planning a large infusion of tax breaks and cash into Canada’s beleaguered news business, a move that it says is aimed at saving independent journalism. But critics say the money will do just the opposite and make journalists and media owners beholden to the state.

The announcement, included in a fall budget statement last week, calls for providing $595 million (in Canadian dollars) over five years to support news outlets through measures such as tax breaks for hiring news personnel, the granting of tax-exempt status to nonprofit news organizations and a tax credit for subscribers to Canadian digital news services.

Digital transformation may be a trendy phrase. And there’s a good reason for that. Companies want and need fundamentally to change how they do business in a world increasingly powered by pervasive technology.

As a consultant, I see both the upside and downside to digital transformation projects. On the upside, we know that companies can truly benefit from our advice and guidance on how to remake their businesses so that they can be positioned to succeed in the decades ahead. The downside? Technology and standards are changing rapidly, and companies are operating in more niche categories. That means consultants can’t simply apply a standard set of best practices to digital transformation. They need to think bigger.

Microloan systems have revolutionised the way we shop. Desperate for the latest, very slightly updated iPhone? Sign up for a month-to-month plan and break that price tag down into manageable morsels. Always wanted a jacuzzi but too cash poor to front up for it? Sign up to Afterpay and for a series of $10 monthly instalments you could have that tub paid off in 60 years.

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